Brightwell Aquatics NeoZeo Method Experiment

[Myka]

Really long story, somewhat shortened:

My tank has been running for 2.75 years (33 months). Around the 6 month mark I started using several Zeovit products, I was able to achieve great colors, but also many cyano blooms. I started working out of province and dropped the Zeovit entirely around 10 months. Months 10-16 went pretty well with me doing one weekly waterchange, tank maintenance company doing one weekly waterchange. Months 17-25 were a disaster with the tank maintenance company doing almost all the maintenance; the tank became very dirty and I lost about half a dozen corals over the last few months.

At month 26 I stopped working out of province and started looking after the tank myself again, at this point the tank was so dirty there was cyano covering most of the sand. I was lazy for months 26-30 and only did a few waterchanges and was patchy on GFO and carbon replacement which didn't help the dirty tank situation. At this point green hair algae was starting to sprout. Month 29 I dosed ChemiClean and only achieved 90% cyano control after the first week.

Month 31 I finally decided enough is enough I have to get this under control. So I started regular GFO and carbon changing, cleaned the tank up (powerheads/pumps/siphoned overflow, etc). I was still being lazy about waterchanges, and started doing 20% bi-weekly changes. I got real aggressive changing 300 mL GFO out every 4 weeks, and 250 mL carbon every 4 weeks. I added a 200 micron filter sock changed everyday. I didn't achieve much progress and blamed the live rock leeching nutrients from months of neglect.

Three weeks ago I am still fighting cyano so I dosed ChemiClean again. I added a small baseball-sized ball of Chaeto (tumbling) and a light. I started weekly 15% waterchanges thoroughly cleaning the tank (I've done 4 now, inc one today). I seemed to be on top of the cyano at that point, although still some green hair algae it appeared on the retreat.

On Feb 9th I started dosing Brightwell Aquatics Nitrobacter7 and BioFuel as per label instructions of 19 mL each everyday (for first 2 weeks) turning the skimmer off for 4 hours after dosing. I notice a lot more skimmate being produced - at least double. Green hair algae still appears to be on the retreat, but over the last few days I have been seeing cyano again (argh!). So I check out the Brightwell Aquatics NeoZeo Method Manual (PDF). I happen to have several bags of Zeovit brand zeolite media (it's all the same regardless of brand) kicking around, so I'm going to put it to use.

Here are their instructions (very different dosing schedule for the MB7 and BF than on the label!):

Weeks 1 and 2: Place 200 g each week of NēoZeo for each 100 US-gallons (378.5 L) in the entire aquarium system into an appropriate media reactor; adjust the rate of water flow through the reactor to ~25 gph (94.6 lph). Add 2.5 ml MicrōBacter7 per 100 USgallons daily.
Weeks 3 and 4: Add 200 g each week of NēoZeo for each 100 US-gallons (378.5 L) in the entire aquarium system into the media reactor; increase water flow through the reactor to ~50 gph (189.3 lph). Add 1 ml MicrōBacter7 and Reef BioFuel per 100 USgallons daily.
Week 5: Add 200 g of NēoZeo for each 100 US-gallons (378.5 L) in the entire aquarium system into the media reactor; increase water flow through the reactor to ~100 gph (378.5 lph). Add 1 ml MicrōBacter7 and Reef BioFuel per 100 US-gallons daily. Once the first 5 weeks of usage has passed, adjust the dosage of MicrōBacter7 and Reef BioFuel according to the appearance of the system, the inhabitants, and as dictated by the water parameters. Refer to the instructions on each of the afore-mentioned supplements’ labels for additional information. Every six-weeks, change 25% of the NēoZeo media and add 1 ml MicrōBacter7 and Reef BioFuel per 100 US-gallons daily for one week before resuming normal dosing schedule.

[also...]

Some enthusiasts familiar with zeolite filtration may scoff, but our preferred method for housing this media is simply to place it inside a large-capacity canister filter that either has some pre-existing means of flow-rate adjustment or can be retrofitted with a ball valve on the filter discharge (which practically any filter that utilizes flexible tubing will accommodate). The water flow through the media is generally maintained at a rate of <100 gph (378.5 lph), with a brief (e.g. 3 – 5 minute) dramatic increase in flow rate (e.g. >200 gph or 757 lph) every 2 – 3 days that serves to dislodge any latent organic material that may have accumulated on the surface of the media itself. We prefer to use a canister filter for this purpose because, in our opinion, it’s a cleaner approach than using an open-top reactor placed in a sump, and opens up the possibility of placing Carbonīt-P or NeōMag (our granular magnesium/calcium media) into the same vessel for added benefit; also, a filter that features flow-control built into the motor housing simplifies maintenance.

I'm not going to follow the instruction to a tee mainly because I'm going to use what I have on hand. So, I'm putting the suggested amount of zeolites into a TLF PhosBan reactor. I'm going to run it inline with my GFO with the zeolites being first because I don't have another spare pump. I will measure the flow, but I am guessing it is dialled back to about 40 gph right now. Other than this, I will following the dosing schedule starting tonight.

So, I will share my experiences with these products so anyone who wants to can follow along.